What If
by xlime4
Summary: What if someone was there before Ted in order to get the Truffula seed? Skye, a girl with an adventurous spirit, wants to find out what happened to the Truffula trees, but soon finds out more than she ever expected... OC x Once-ler
1. Heading Out

**Author's Notes -** I just wanted to mention one thing: Rhys, who will be introduced in a future chapter, is not a fan-character of mine. She is actually a fan-character of SetFireToEverybody. I just liked the character, so I added her in the story. Oh, and none of the other characters, apart from Skye, belongs to me. They belong to the creators of the film and/or the book. Enjoy!

**Chapter 1: Heading Out**

Auntie Norma was having a baby. I was really excited, since I didn't have any siblings _or_ cousins until now. A baby would be wonderful, I thought. Thneedville was growing in plastic, metal, rubber etc... but the amount of nature was decreasing. I loved nature, but that was dying. Well, it was already dying since the trees disappeared, but people seemed to be developing an ignorance to it. It made me mad, but I couldn't do anything to stop it.

Or could I?

Well, I kept trying to convince people to stick with nature, but they no longer wanted to hear it. Why? Because they thought that was perfect, but I knew it wasn't. And I thought that I was the only one that thought so. Well, Auntie Norma liked remembering the fluffy trees, called Truffulas, but everyone else was swallowed by the 'perfection' of Thneedville. It was disgusting, but I couldn't go anywhere else. The clouds were full of smoke, and we started getting forced to pay for air. And what was worse was that the outside world was was empty; lifeless. And that made me wonder what would have happened if the place was set on fire...

I reached Auntie Norma's house. I rang the doorbell, and waited patiently for her to answer.

"Come in!" she yelled enthusiastically. She had always been a very energetic person, even when she was pregnant. "Oh, and mind the cat on the way in" she warned me as I entered. I took off my silky, purple coat. It was made from Thneed material, and was very soft. I carefully placed it on the hanger, along with my black hat. What was underneath the coat revealed a snow-white indoor scarf* that could be seen anyway, a sky-blue top; and after taking off the hat, long, slightly curly blonde hair was revealed too. I also took off my black-and-white Converse shoes with white laces, and I was wearing white socks.

My bright blue eyes looked around, and what I saw was Auntie Norma running towards me, with open arms. "Oh, it's good to see you Skye!" she chimed, and squeezed me. I hugged her back, but I soon found it hard to breathe.

"Y-you're squeezing me too tight..." I twitched, barely able to make that sentence.

"Oh, sorry dear. Why don't you come in?" she smiled at me, and I admired the scenery. It was how a house _should_ be: oak tables, desks, floors and door-frames, and bright orange walls and curtains. The only thing that wasn't involving wood or orange was the T.V**, but it blended well with the surroundings. Over-all, it was fiery and fun, just the way I liked it.

"I take it you like my refurnishing" she chuckled, and I nodded.

"It's perfect" I gasped.

"I hope the baby will like it too" she said worriedly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that he or she will love it"

"Thank-you, dear. Oh, you can sit down, if you want. How rude of me" she apologized, blushing.

"No, it's okay. Thanks" I said, and sat down on the orange sofa, which was behind a patterned, orange rug.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked.

"No thanks"

"Come on," she urged. "We've got marshmallows in here for you"

"Oh, in that case...yes please!" I squealed enthusiastically, and Auntie Norma chuckled. She knew how much I liked marshmallows, and every so often she brought some in for me.

"Here's your tea," she said, and she brought a bowl-full of marshmallows and the cup-of-tea.

"Thank you very much" I nodded gratefully, and grabbed a couple of marshmallows, and sipped some tea. Marshmallows and tea wasn't a thing that should be mixed, but for some reason I liked it a lot.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about, dear?" she asked after a while.

"Well...yes. You see, I'm wondering what happened to the trees..." I started, and she nodded for me to continue. "Is there anyone I can talk to about what happened to them?"

"Well, you'll need to visit the Once-ler" Auntie Norma concluded, and she sipped on her tea.

"The Once-ler?"

"Yes. He's the only one who knows about what happened to the trees"

"Don't _you _know?" I asked, and she frowned.

"We're not supposed to talk about it here," she whispered to me, getting closer to my face. "But that doesn't mean that we can't talk about it _outside _of town, does it?" she chuckled.

"Wait...are you suggesting..."

"Yes. Go get 'em"

"But...are you sure about this?"

"Yes"

"Okay...I'll see you tomorrow. Oh, and can you please tell Mom where I am?" I asked, but she shook her head.

"Why not?" I asked.

"You see, I'm not supposed to be telling you this. So, it will just have to be our little secret, okay? I'll tell your Mom that you're busy"

"Okay. See you later!" I yelled out, and I put my blue coat, black hat, and converse shoes on. I ran out the door, and exited out of Thneedville before anyone could notice.

* * *

*Yes, there is such a thing. I have one myself.

**If you're asking how Norma got a TV, then how did the Once-ler get an electric guitar?


	2. An Irrational Sense of Optimism

**Author's Note:** I've decided that I'm not going to use Rhys and I'm just going to use a fan character that I made up. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 2: An Irrational Sense of Optimism**

The valleys were purple, toxic, and downright depressing. What on Earth could have happened to this place, I thought. In Thneedville, the air was fresh, but we had to pay for it. Auntie Norma told me that back in the day, there was no need to pay for air. But because the trees were gone, for reasons unknown to the public, there was no oxygen, so the O'hare guy, now Mayor of town, produced the oxygen with his invention; a way to sell air, the O'hare air machine.

But here, there was...nothing. It was very smoky, almost like sitting near a fire without getting burnt, but you could still smell the smoke. Tree stumps were everywhere, but there were no trees. Something was wrong, _really _wrong, and I had to find out what happened.

I stood in front of a creepy-looking, tall building, with the 15 cents, a nail, and a shell in-hand. I saw signs of danger a little further back, but I ignored them, somehow determined. On the door, there was a sign reading 'The Once-ler'. I rang the doorbell, and waited. I thought nobody was there, so I turned around. I started walking away, until I heard a click.

"Oh, no..." I mumbled, realizing what happened. A wire got cut, and the plank below me launched me into the air. I screamed as I fell, stopping only when a claw grabbed me by my shoe. I got lifted up, and I was greeted by an unfriendly face...that I somehow recognized.

"Who are you and wha-oh..." he growled, but softened when he saw me. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"M-my name's Skye...and I think I recognize you...I'm not really sure..." I trailed off, a little frightened by that sudden greeting.

"It doesn't matter. What do you want, anyway?" he asked, a little politer than before, knowing that he frightened me.

"Um, I came to ask you about trees...do you know what happened to them?"

An awkward silence fell, until I interrupted. "Hello?"

"I'm sorry, it's just...I thought nobody still cared"

"Well _I _do" I said. The man had enough, and carefully placed me on the ground.

"You want to hear about trees? About what happened to them? Well now they're gone...it's because of me..."

"Don't be like that, I'm sure it wasn't _all _your fault" I soothed him, but he didn't believe me.

"_It's because of __**me!" **_he yelled down a long tube, bugs crawling out, making me jump out of my skin. Okay, maybe he _wasn't _going to be nice.

"Sorry, but can you explain how it was _all _your fault?" I glared at him, and he sighed.

"Well, it all started a long time ago, with my invention called the Thneed. It would do the job of a thousand, but I started at the very bottom, with nothing but a wagon, a mule and a completely irrational sense of optimism"

* * *

"Okay, Mom, I'm about to change the world with my Thneed" The Once-ler called out excitedly, while he threw a couple of bags of marshmallows into the wagon and hung his guitar around his neck. The wind waved his coal-black hair in the breeze, only to be caught by his blue-grey hat.

"Okay, Oncie, just remember that if your invention somehow ends up a failure..." his Mom began in a sweet tone, but that faded when she finished her sentence. "Then it wouldn't surprise me at all! Ha ha!" she laughed, alongside her family. The only person who didn't laugh was the Once-ler himself. He hopped onto the wagon, while one of his brothers approached the wagon too.

"Nice wheels! Ha ha" laughed his brother, only to be kicked by the Once-ler's mule, called Melvin.

"Ha ha...burn!" The Once-ler laughed at his brother, but he was still pretty serious about his invention. "But, I'll prove you all wrong, you'll see. Come on, Melvin!" he told his mule, and they were off, with his family laughing behind them.

After a while, the Once-ler began to get bored, and created a song. A very long song full of endless "Na, na, na-na-na-na, na. Na, na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na na"'s repeating again and again. Soon, the Once-ler got sleepy and started to forget the words (that hardly needed to be remembered) and slept.

Melvin somehow knew where they were going, and found the tops of some fluffy trees. He walked towards them, and found a beautiful land full of colour, animals, and mostly trees. Really fluffy trees.

Melvin kicked the Once-ler awake, realizing that he had found the place.

"We'll be there soon I'm sure..." he mumbled, but when he realized where they were, he marvelled at the beauty.

"Woah..." was all he could say.

"This is the place~" he began to sing, strumming the guitar. "These trees are the one I ne-eed~"

Melvin looked like he could face-palm himself. If only he had hands.

The Once-ler sang his melody mentioned in a few paragraphs before. "Na, na, na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-now you!" he sang, pointing at the animals to echo his song.

"Now our friendship can begin~" he sang absent-mindedly, throwing sharp objects behind him, unaware of the animals. One of the bar-ba-loots even got shaved!

After a while, when the Once-ler turned around, the animals looked up at him angrily, while the Once-ler wondered why the animals weren't singing any more.

"Come on, guys...where's my back-up chorus?" he asked them, just before one of the larger bar-ba-loots, who arrived much later than them, continued to sing. The other animals hissed and growled at him.

"Uh, oh. Oh...a-ha!" The Once-ler said, grabbing the two bags of marshmallows. One of the bar-ba-loots ripped a bag open, and the marshmallows poured out. The animals softened their eyes, and ate the marshmallows. The Once-ler smiled in content, and walked towards a tree. He grabbed an axe, and began chopping it down.

The animals stared, and cowered in fear. After the Once-ler was finished, he dragged the tree near his tent and began work. But what he didn't know was that by chopping down that tree, he would unleash a creature as old as time itself: The Lorax.

Thunder came, the ground shook, and the animals were being pulled away, all the while the Once-ler was pulling out tufts from the tree. After that dramatic event, a fluffy, orange creature popped out of the stump.

* * *

**Author's Notes – **I'm sorry if I spelt bar-ba-loot wrong. I know that it's not that big a deal, but I just wanted to say that. Thanks for reading!


	3. The Girl and The Lorax

**Author's Notes – **I know some people may not like the fact that I have _two _OC's in my story, but please deal with it. Please?

I'm sorry if the Once-ler seems OOC, but the Once-ler is not an easy character to mix with OC's. If anyone can give me any tips on this topic, that would be really helpful.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Girl and The Lorax**

The orange creature with a orange-yellow moustache frantically looked around. He hadn't expected to be coming out any time soon. "Wha-who-huh?" he panicked, before seeing the devastation of the dead tree. He sighed in a mournful way, and carefully placed stones around it. The animals felt sorry for him, and placed stones around it too.

They all held hands, with one of the larger bar-ba-loots crying even more than the others. The orange creature turned around when he heard whistling, and stared at the creature who dared chop down one of his beloved trees. He marched down to him, glaring at him. He wasn't paying any attention, however, so he decided to hang off one of the tufts he was pulling out.

"Hey! Did you chop down this tree?" The orange creature sniffed when he noticed.

"Uh...no..." the Once-ler lied. "Oh look, what's that?" he pointed excitedly, keeping the creature's attention off-guard. The Once-ler placed his axe on top of a small bar-ba-loot, and when the creature turned back, he pointed at the bar-ba-loot, claiming that he did it. The creature wasn't buying it, so he tried to tell him to go away.

"And who are you, exactly?" the Once-ler poked him.

"I am the Lorax, guardian of the forest" he folded his arms, like it was the most obvious thing one could notice. The Once-ler wasn't buying it. "So you didn't see me magically appear out of that stump? With the thunder and lightning and stuff?"

"Okay...didn't really happen" he placed his finger on his chin, still not buying it. "Oh, I know what you want!" he decided, fishing out a marshmallow in his pocket. "I've got one of these! For the cutest little guy I ever saw!" he said in a baby-ish voice, like he was talking to a baby bar-ba-loot, which he certainly wasn't.

"Gimme that!" The Lorax snatched the marshmallow, sniffing it first to check that it was edible. "Well, I am going to eat this! But I am highly offended by it" he stated, and tossed the marshmallow into his mouth.

The Lorax walked towards a tent peg, confusing the Once-ler at first. The Lorax kicked it, and part of the tent fell. The Once-ler, due to his height, was able to catch it in time, and quickly hammered it back down.

"What's your deal, man?" he asked, annoyed. The Lorax ignored him, and continued to try and put the tent down. The process repeated after a while, until the Lorax gave up.

"Okay! That's enough," he surrendered. "I'm going to sleep" he sighed, and walked away.

The Once-ler headed off to his tent, and started knitting. He was tired, sure, but he needed to get this Thneed done.

Outside, the animals were forming a plan. They needed to get rid of the intruder somehow. They were all tired, but they could not have him chopping down any more trees.

Far across the distance, a girl with short, blonde hair with brown highlights, black glasses, emerald green eyes and cream-coloured clothes clumsily tread over fur. They fell off the trees, and they were soft. Really soft. She took some with her, because they kept her warm.

She had been travelling for days, but with no sign of humanity. She wondered how much longer she could last surviving this. Probably another day.

Suddenly, out of no-where, she saw a tent. She walked up to the tent, slowly, not noticing that the animals were watching.

"I hope that _she _doesn't chop down any trees" The Lorax sniffed, remembering the time when that tree got chopped down. He still hadn't gotten over it.

The girl knocked on the door several times, and waited. "I'm coming, Lorax" he grumbled, and fiercely opened the door. "Oh. Hello. What're you doing here?"

"I was trying to find my house, but I somehow got lost. In fact, I ended up being so lost that I somehow ended up being in a different universe entirely" she said, not realizing how crazy she sounded.

"Uh...right. You sound just as crazy as Moustache," he pointed out. "But you're welcome to stay here, come on in" he invited, and the girl took off her coat and shoes.

"By the way, what's your name?" he asked.

"My name's Lia. It has such a stupid meaning, though" Lia giggled. She _really _didn't want him to know that her name meant 'cow'. "What's your name?"

"Your name is just fine," he said. "My name's the Once-ler. I'm serious*. Please don't laugh..."

"I won't. At least _you _don't have a name that means 'cow'. Oops! You weren't supposed to hear that..." Lia blushed, while the Once-ler laughed.

"No, no, that's okay" the Once-ler giggled. Lia didn't believe him.

"Um...what should I wear for tonight?" Lia wondered. She didn't bring any pyjamas, toothbrushes or anything. That was why Lia had really mucky clothes.

"Wear this" he said, and tossed some soft, daytime clothing.

"But these are yours..." she held them, running her fingers through the soft material.

"Don't worry. Besides, these are really soft. 'Night" he said, and went to bed. Lia got changed in the bathroom, and when she came out, there was no-where for her to sleep.

"Oh, no..." she sighed. The Once-ler was already fast asleep, and sleeping was the body's way of telling other people to 'go away'.

"What should I do? I don't know where to sleep" she mumbled to herself. In the end, she decided that she was _not _going to sleep on the floor. She wandered towards the bed, and gently shook him awake.

"Um, One-ler..." she whispered, and he opened his eyes.

"What do you want?" he mumbled, but he wasn't as unfriendly as she expected him to be.

"Um, I'm really sorry for awakening you, but I don't know where to sleep..."

"Just sleep in bed with me" the Once-ler whispered back.

"Wha...what?" Lia stammered, in a loud whisper.

"There's enough room..."

"I-I know there is, but...why?" she asked. She was a little disturbed by that sudden invitation, and that was shown on her face.

"I don't mind"

Lia sighed. It was the floor, or the bed. Obviously, she wanted the bed, so she climbed into it. It was warm and soft, so she snuggled into the sheets. She was still embarrassed, though.

"Goodnight" she whispered, blushing.

* * *

"And you wouldn't _believe _what happened that night" The Once-ler told me.

"What?" I asked eagerly. I loved stories, and this one was particularly exciting.

"If you want to hear the rest, come back tomorrow" he told me, dismissing the tube.

"But I _hate _cliff-hangers!" I complained. The _last _thing I wanted was a cliff-hanger in the middle of a good story.

"Patience is a virtue" he reminded me. "Come back tomorrow"

* * *

**Author's Notes – **Yep, I definitely made the Once-ler OOC. Ah well, I hope the _next_ chapter isn't going to be a face-palmer for you. Come back tomorrow if you want to hear the rest of the story, though ;)

* * *

*Sorry for making him sound like GLaDOS from Portal...


	4. Down The River

**Author's Notes:** I said I would get the next chapter done by the next day...when in fact I finished it a few days later O.o. In any case, I'm sorry about that. As always, enjoy the story!

**Chapter 4: Down The River**

"Honey, don't play with your food" I was sat bored on the table, playing with a few chopped carrots that somehow made it into Thneedville. I supposed that they had to be shipped from a different country, since there was nothing but dead trees and plastic here.

"Sorry, Mom" I replied. "But something got me thinking...what was my father like?"

Mom turned around, with an angry look on her face. "You _know _that subject is sensitive!" she scolded me. "...But you deserve to know. He _is _your father, after all. I'll tell you when you're older" she told me, and started walking upstairs.

"So that means you'll tell me tomorrow?" I asked. "It will be my birthday tomorrow, after all..."

"Yeah, whatever" she yawned, and dragged herself upstairs.

* * *

I walked towards the Once-ler's house. Mom was taking a nap (she liked to sleep) so I took off while I could. Mom could sleep for hours.

I rang the doorbell and waited. I jumped out of the way when the wire was cut (did he reinstall it?) and landed in the same area as when he dropped me off last time.

"Aw, you missed me" The Once-ler stated.

"Sorry?"

"Well, you're already back, clearly you missed me"

"No, I just want to hear the rest of the story. Did I ever mention that I _hate _cliff-hangers?" I folded my arms.

"Yes, yes you did. Now, where did we leave off?"

* * *

The Once-ler got up in the middle of the night to knit. Lia groaned at the light, but she understood that the Thneed was important to him, and she was just grateful that she wasn't sleeping on the floor again. The last time she slept in a wonderful, warm, cosy bed felt like forever to her, when in reality it was about two weeks.

"Nothing unmanly about knitting, no sir" The Once-ler told himself after finishing his invention, called the Thneed. He slid back into bed, and turned off the light.

While the light was no longer bothering Lia, the amount of room the Once-ler took in the bed wasn't something to laugh at. She groaned, again, but still fell asleep pretty soon. The Once-ler did the same.

Outside, about six bar-ba-loots went inside to steal the bed, banging into stuff in the process. A small bear, named Pipsqueak, sat on top of the bed, giggling at the team's efforts in getting the bed out of the tent.

"Ugh, who taught you guys to steal a bed?" the Lorax face-palmed himself.

The animals carefully placed the bed in the river, hoping that they would arrive in whatever destination they would land in safely. After all, they didn't want to hurt them.

"Nice work, you guys!" the Lorax said, putting his two arms over two bar-ba-loots. Pipsqueak popped out of the bed soon after the Lorax said that. "Oh no..can he swim?" he asked a nearby bar-ba-loot, but only getting the 'no' he feared. "Of _course _he can swim!" the Lorax fretted, before heading out to get him. "Hold on, Pipsqueak, we are going to get ya!"

"Stop them, fishies!" he commanded the fish, but they only pulled off the cover. Lia and the Once-ler shivered and hugged each other for warmth, with Pipsqueak being pulled into the middle, shared by them.

The animals ran to a nearby tree, and climbed it. Because of a larger bear, the tree bent far enough for the Lorax to reach him. "Come on, reach out for the Lorax" he said to Pipsqueak, who turned out to only want a piece of fruit from the tree.

"Wake them up!" the Lorax cried out, and Pipsqueak went to the other end of the bed, flipping the bed underwater and flipping it back up. Lia coughed and awoke, cowering under the damp sheet as her bra was showing. The Once-ler did the same, but didn't go under the sheets.

"W-where am I?" the Once-ler worried.

"Big trouble ahead!" the Lorax shouted, and surely enough, a waterfall was up ahead.

_A very big waterfall._

Lia revealed herself from under the cover, twisting her body to watch the disaster that was about to befall her. Lia screamed, and the Once-ler and Lia clung to each other, Pipsqueak in the middle.

"What do we do now?" Lia squealed, while the Once-ler tried to row the bed backwards with his pillow, but to no avail; the current was too strong.

The Lorax wasn't going to give up yet, though, so he ran up a hill as fast as he could, and pushed a rock over the edge, causing the three to be catapulted into the air. The Once-ler and Lia grabbed each other, then the Once-ler grabbed Pipsqueak, whilst they were falling.

A while later, the three landed. Pipsqueak and Lia landed safely on the Once-ler, but the Once-ler was left unconscious. Lia knew a little about CPR/First Aid, and performed it on him. When he didn't awaken, Lia appeared sad.

The Lorax, however, rubbed two bar-ba-loots together, and restarted his heart. "Clear!" he shouted, and the Once-ler shot up. He checked his body, and then Lia. All three of them were safe.

"I was heading into the light, and you pulled me right back in! You saved my life!" The Once-ler cried, hugging the Lorax.

"Heh, heh...it's not that big of a deal, ha ha!" he responded modestly.

"It _is _a big deal! I almost went over that waterfall! Wait...how did my bed get in the river?"

"About that...actually...um...I-put-your-bed-in-the-water" The Lorax said quickly, and the Once-ler dropped him.

"I didn't mean any harm! We were just going to calmly float you away...no harm done" the Lorax stated, petting Pipsqueak. The Once-ler turned his back on them, as Lia walked towards him, carefully leaning her body next to his face.

"Look, I think that the animals need the trees to live, and they don't want anybody chopping the trees down. That's probably why they tried to send you away" Lia whispered to him sweetly.

The Once-ler slowly turned around, and saw Pipsqueak snuggle up on his pyjamas. The Once-ler's face softened up, and he slowly picked him up. "Look...I solemnly swear that I won't chop down another tree" he began, and carefully placed Pipsqueak back on the ground. He put one hand up, and the other on his heart. "I promise"


End file.
